BOMBSHELL new evidence suggests that one of Hollywood’s most mysterious deaths – the so-called “accidental” drowning of gorgeous actress NATALIE WOOD – could have been murder!
That’s the conclusion of top legal experts after the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office took the almost unprecedented step of changing the cause of death on Natalie’s death certificate from “accidental” to “undetermined.” The experts told The ENQUIRER that the stunning move signaled there could be new legal trouble brewing for actors Robert Wagner, 82, and Christopher Walken, 69.
The screen legends were both on Wagner’s yacht Splendour when Natalie, 43,who was married to Wagner at the time, drowned in the chilly waters off the coast of Catalina Island, Calif., around midnight on Nov. 29, 1981.
As the ENQUIRER previously reported, coroner’s officials said Natalie was “possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face.”
Wagner has speculated that Wood was bothered by the sound of their dinghy hitting the side of the boat and went to tie it more securely when she fell overboard. But Natalie’s sister, Lana Wood, has repeatedly said her sister was deathly afraid of the water and would have never attempted such a maneuver.
In her book, Lana says that Natalie may have fallen in love with the then-married Walken on the set of their movie “Brainstorm,” which began shooting two months before her death.
Boat captain Dennis Davern, the only other person aboard the vessel that night, wrote in the 2009 book, “Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour,” that Wagner and Natalie had a loud fight that evening over her close relationship with Walken. Davern also says Wagner seemed to delay the search for the actress and that Natalie’s body had more than 25 bruises on her arms and legs.
After Davern’s book was published, the case was reopened last November. But authorities insist neither Wagner nor Walken were considered suspects and closed it again in January.
But in early July, when word of the change to the death certificate was reported, officials at both the Coroner’s Office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department refused to comment, saying there is a “security hold” on the case, which they called an “open” investigation.
“In my opinion, something’s going on,” famed criminal profiler PAT BROWN told The ENQUIRER. “If I were Walken or Wagner, I’d get a lawyer. They may have to defend themselves.”
The change of the cause of death to “undetermined” centers around the bruises on Natalie’s body, which could have been caused by something other than an accident, say sources.
“This means that homicide is at least a possibility,” explained Craig Silverman, a former longtime prosecutor in the Denver District Attorney’s Office. “With this change, law enforcement may be trying to put pressure on someone, or keep a suspect off balance.
“I have to believe that law enforcement has some fresh information and is still determined to find the truth about who or what killed Natalie. Obviously, they believe it might have been a murder.”
